Google Finally Gets Another Carrier For Android

About a year after the first Google phone went on sale, Android is finally getting another carrier to sell Android phones in the States: Sprint Nextel said today that it will sell the attractive HTC Hero beginning on Oct. 11 for $179.

Sprint is larger than Google’s other U.S. carrier, T-Mobile, so this is a positive for Android. But three problems:

At $180, the Hero is still much pricier than Apple’s $99 entry level iPhone, which is still a better all-around phone.

Sprint still has an exclusive to sell Palm’s Pre, so it will have a harder time marketing both.

Sprint’s reign as the biggest U.S. Android carrier will be short. Both AT&T and Verizon now have plans to sell Android devices.